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Topic: Caffeine and green tea

Forum:
Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment — Complementary medicine refers to treatments that are used WITH standard treatment. Holistic medicine is a term used to describe therapies that attempt to treat the patient as a whole person.

just wondering what everyone thinks about caffeine. I've read that potentially (too much of it) can alter breast issue and cause breast lumps (fibros, cystic disease etc) and we all know high volumes aren't good for the body in general...but what about caffeine in green tea then? Whilst green tea is supposed to be anti-cancer, it still contains caffeine..

In my opinion, caffeine has benefits when taken in moderation, whether in coffee or green tea. I guess a cup a day won't do any harm preferably if you choose those that are organic and naturally-brewed. I also think that coffee may be more harmful than green tea because of how they are made. Coffee is roasted before being grinded and that may mean more carcinogens especially if the machines used are old, dirty and overheated. Green tea are usually just placed in driers to take away the moisture and therefore, less processing is involved.

There are also similar conflicting issues in soy and flaxseed. The main thing is to take everything in moderation. IMHO.

Thanks Lilly. I have read the same. There are other health benefits from caffeine besides. Notsure why people are so afraid of coffee/caffeine. Obviously, as with anything really, moderation is a good idea, but I know of no harm that comes froma few cups of coffee or tea a day

I wouldn't worry about drinking coffee or green tea or the caffeine in either. My naturopathic oncologist told me to use organics, because the pesticides used in growing non-organic teas and coffees were concentrated in the brewing process. So I've been sticking to organic coffee.

I also remember reading that coffee reduces some inflammation, and inflammation has been linked to some higher rates of cancers, according to some research.

Here are some links to a site I like. The articles have links to many studies, and the site's owner sums up the research.

She concludes that green tea is recommended for breast cancer, and just advises preparing it in a way that minimizes caffeine if you have fibrocystic breasts. She explains that whether coffee is good for you may depend on menopausal status, what treatment you are on, your genotype, and whether you have benign fibrocystic breast disease. And as Claire says above, organic seems best.

My understanding was that caffeine was implicated in fibrocystic/benign issues, specifically cysts and more specifically the pain from them. I had large painful breast cysts and several needle aspirations from age 38. At age 43 I was told by a breast specialist at a respected academic medical center to try giving up caffeine, that it helps some women. It was so hard, I drank a LOT of caffeine, but I was so desperate I did it. Totally gave it up, even chocolate. At a three month follow up appt my breast were already so much better. Stayed off caffeine and needed no more cyst aspirations for five years.

I had no issues until January of this year, at age 48 I am now going foing through perimenopause and the breast cysts came back with a bang. Long story short (it's been a crazy few months) I have also now been diagnosed with IDC -- waiting further testing and surgery now. Anyway I wonder now if I should have kept drinking my favorite green tea in these five years. I may have had some cysts and pain but maybe giving up those antioxidants wasn't so good for me :(

Also thank you for that link above. I came here to look for nutrition advice re my diagnosis. Thought maybe I'm eating the wrong foods but interestingly the recommended foods for hormone sensitive breast cancer are foods I eat all the time. But I'll study the site more and see what I can improve (I've been vegetarian for over 25 years, vegan at home -husband is vegan- I eat healthy like apples, mushrooms, broccoli, a lot of stuff on that list is already my daily diet.)